Diamonds

Published on Facebook 02/14/2010.  I wrote it while meditating upon my engagement ring, which was my Gigi's.

“Diamonds,” she thought as she glanced down at her finger, “who could have come up with the idea that they represent a pure love and the promise of a life together?” The ring, the only thing adorning her left hand, was rather simple. A single brilliant-cut diamond was fixed in a delicate golden setting. Not as fancy s many of the engagement rings which she had seen of late, it was beautiful in its simplicity, like the love with which it was given. She allowed her gaze to descend once again as she pondered the question of diamonds. “Diamonds are strong and lasting, so I guess it would make sense for them to symbolize the characteristics of a true love,” she concluded. She smiled, with both pleasure at her successful musing and fondness for the person to whom she had promised herself.

Slowly her smile became wistful, as her thoughts turned to the previous owner of her ring. It had originally been her great-grandmother’s, given to her by her husband for their thirtieth anniversary. Though they had not been close, time and distance the main impediments to this, the girl had been told stories about what a wonderful woman her great-grandmother had been – a loving and compassionate wife, a kind and understanding mother. Fingering the ring, she sighed. “Please God,” she prayed, “that I may live up to the legacy of Gigi, and be half the woman that she was.”